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Parents plead for Jessica's return as investigators probe Wyo. case

Jeremiah Bryant and Sarah Ridgeway, the parents of missing 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway, embrace after giving an emotional plea for the girl's return. Jessica went missing Friday morning while on her way to school in Westminster. (Kathryn Scott Osler, The Denver Post)

WESTMINSTER — As the parents of Jessica Ridgeway made an emotional public appeal for her safe return Tuesday, authorities widened their investigation, looking for a possible connection to Monday's abduction of a girl in Wyoming.

The incident involving a girl in Cody — located in north-central Wyoming about 490 miles from Denver — occurred three days after 10-year-old Jessica vanished as she walked to Witt Elementary School. The Cody girl was released later Monday.

"We are not ruling anything out at this time," said FBI spokesman Dave Joly. "Both investigations are continuing."

No one has seen Jessica, a fifth-grader, since she was reported missing.

Sarah Ridgeway, a night-shift worker, told police she last saw her daughter walking toward school. She reported the girl missing later in the afternoon after she awoke to discover a phone message saying Jessica hadn't arrived at school, 10255 W. 104th Drive, about a mile from her home.

Tuesday, there were fresh sheets on the bed in her room and a nest of stuffed animals waiting for Jessica to come home.

"Everything is up there how she likes it," said Sarah Ridgeway during a meeting with the news media at the Westminster Police Department. "We want her to be able to sleep in it again. Nice and warm and safe, where she is supposed to be."

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Jessica's father, Jeremiah Bryant, had one thing on his mind: "I just want to find my daughter and bring her back home."

"All tied together"

Bryant and Ridgeway, flanked by nine family members and a close friend, talked about their daughter's disappearance and the pain they have felt.

"If there was a string, we would all be tied together," Ridgeway said of her support network.

Jessica Ridgeway. (Westminster Colorado Police Department)

Hundreds of volunteers have searched areas around the girl's home and near where her backpack was discovered for any clues, and police investigators have been working around the clock trying to find the girl.

"I'm trying to stay positive about it," said Bryant, who lives in Missouri. "It is hard, extremely hard."

Jessica was described Tuesday as a happy girl who loves animals and enjoys "performing" in front of family, garnering cheers.

She especially likes playing "waitress" — taking imaginary meal orders for adults willing to take part. Jessica's favorite color is purple, she likes telling jokes and she is a "giggler."

"We know how scared she is," said Gay Moore, Jessica's great-aunt. "We are just as terrified."

On Friday, Jessica's alarm clock went off at 7:45 a.m., after which she started preparing for her day.

She turned on the TV and ate a granola bar while getting ready for school.

An orange for school

Ridgeway and her daughter peeled an orange together, a snack she would have at school.

She said she left her cellphone in a room downstairs, so her sleep would not be disturbed.

Someone from Witt Elementary called and left a message that Jessica never made it to school, but Ridgeway didn't get it until she awoke at 4 p.m., about the time her daughter would typically arrive home.

Ridgeway said she checked with friends — but Jessica wasn't with any of them. Ridgeway went by a playground — no Jessica. Ridgeway said she even drove by the school. After coming up empty everywhere, she called police.

"A sliver of hope"

On Sunday, investigators were tipped off about the discovery of Jessica's school backpack and water bottle, which were found on a sidewalk in Superior, about six miles from her home.

Ridgeway on Tuesday said the discovery offered her "a sliver of hope."

"If anything really bad had happened to her," she said, "they wouldn't have gotten rid of the backpack."

In the meantime, investigators released more photographs of Jessica.

As he had the day before, Westminster police spokesman Trevor Materasso urged people to pay attention to Jessica's facial features, not her glasses or clothing. He said specifically to note she has a gap between her two front teeth and a sore at the bridge of her nose where her glasses sit.

"There's a chance someone might see her in passing," he said.

The incident in Wyoming occurred as an 11-year-old girl and a friend were approached by a man in a white sports utility vehicle Monday afternoon who asked for help finding his lost black labrador puppy, according to a Cody Police Department release.

The 11-year-old told the man she would help him and "entered the front passenger side of the vehicle," according to the release.

The girl's friend reported her missing. She was spotted walking on a road just outside Cody about 8:15 p.m.

The girl told police that when she approached the vehicle, the man flashed a pistol and told her to get into the front passenger seat.

"We are not ignoring the fact that we have somewhat similar situations in a short period of time," said Jefferson County Sheriff's spokeswoman Jacki Kelley. "Whether they are related or not, we cannot say one way or the other."

The Wyoming suspect was described as a white man, between 55 and 60 years old, 185 to 200 pounds, with short, strawberry-blond or white hair, and a neatly trimmed strawberry-blond or white mustache or beard. He was wearing a brown shirt, blue jeans and a tan baseball cap.

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